No end in sight to global jobs crisis, ILO says
Baku, April 30 (AZERTAC). Fiscal austerity and tough labor reforms have failed to create jobs, leading to an "alarming" situation in the global employment market that shows no sign of recovering, the International Labour Organization said on Sunday.
An estimated 196 million people were unemployed worldwide at the end of last year, forecast to rise to 202 million in 2012 for a rate of 6.1 percent, according to the United Nations agency's annual flagship report, "World of Work Report 2012".
"The ill-conceived labor market reforms in the short-term cannot work either. These reforms in situations of crisis tend to lead to more job destruction and very little job creation at least in the short-term," said Torres, the report's lead author.
Youth jobless rates have soared, increasing the risk of social unrest especially in parts of Africa and the Middle East.
The labor market overall has deteriorated over the past six months, with a very significant slowdown in the case of European countries, Torres said. Unemployment is growing in a significant number of countries, including more than two-thirds of European countries over the past year.
Labor market recovery has also stalled in Japan, the report said. Employment rates have stagnated or "double-dipped" in China, India and Saudi Arabia, while Latin America is healthier, marked by improvements in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
In Spain, unemployment shot up to 24 percent in the first quarter, its highest level in almost two decades and one of the worst jobless figures in the developed world, according to figures issued last Friday. Standard and Poor's downgraded the government's debt by two notches.
The number of jobless in France rose for the eleventh month in March to hit the highest level since September 1999.
The EU, which generates about a fifth of global output, has struggled to strike a balance between austerity and growth as it seeks to overcome a decade of runaway spending while grappling with recession.
The report recommends countries would do better to boost job quality and reinforce institutions, rather than deregulating labor markets.
Other news in this section
